Rainbow Six Siege Operators in 2020

It’s 2020, and Rainbow Six Siege has 54 (!) operators. As Rainbow has recruited eight new spec ops friends each year, who to pick has only gotten more complicated. Modern Siege is full of laser beams and smart glasses, but good team composition still requires the basics: fraggers, supports, roamers, and anchors. No one operator fills each job perfectly. Sometimes a situation calls for the light touch of Maverick’s blowtorch instead of Thermite’s blunt breaching charge.

Tier List Descriptions

Tier S — These operators are getting impressive results for players right now. You will want at least one of these battle-hardened characters in your team composition at all times.

Tier A — These operators are strong. While not as impressive as their S Tier brethren, these operators will still provide you a slight edge in combat.

Tier B — These operators are average. Consistent and dependable, you can’t go wrong choosing any of these operators.

Tier C — These operators are not bad. These characters require a little more skill and strategy to fully utilize. Consequently, some of the higher tiered operators often get more attention in the field.

Tier D — These operators are not ideal. While situationally useful, these operators are considered the least effective among the roster.

S Thermite Hibana Bandit Mira A Valkyrie Lesion Doc Twitch Ash Jager Maverick Thatcher Mute Kaid

B Rook Jackal Buck Sled Echo Zofia Caviera Maestro Smoke Vigil Ela Pulse Dokkaebi Nomad Finka Blackbeard Albini Mozzie Gridlock Nokk

C IQ Frost Kapkan Castle Warden Fuze Blitz Ying Montagne Lion Capitao D Tachanka Clash Glaz

ATTACKERS

Thermite & Hibana

Thermite and Hibana is the foundation of good team composition. They are the two major breaches of siege, and their ability to destroy fortified walls is important in every game. A round of Siege is often won or lost based on how much of the defense the attackers were able to tear down, and these two cut the deepest. If you’re looking to give your team the best chance in most situations, take one of them. And a team with both of them isn't in a bad spot.

Sledge & Buck

Sledge and Buck are two sides of the same coin, both accomplishing the same goal in different ways. They both excel at soft breaching: Sledge with his titular hammer, and Buck with his rifle-mounted shotgun. They’re both two-speed ops and both carry frag grenades, so the choice between them really comes down to the preference between Buck’s unmatched breaching speed and Sledge’s versatility. Bring one when you expect an enemy to pick an objective room with a soft ceiling, like Drug Lab on Theme Park.

Maverick

Maverick is a tough breakers like Thermite and Hibana, but his style of play is no different. Instead of the boom of a violation charge, he smashes the walls of his explosives with delicate leather. He excels at exposing Bandit batteries and Mute jammers on reinforced walls, but he can also dominate as a stealthy flanker, opening smaller murder holes to catch enemies off guard while his teammates draw attention from elsewhere. His versatile kit makes him a solid pick in almost any situation, but his blowtorch does take practice to use efficiently.

Ash

Ash is FPS comfort food: a pure run-'n-gunner with a powerful rifle and a lot of breaching power. Her greatest strength is the R4-C, which boasts all-around great stats with low recoil. Paired with the breaching grenade launcher that allows her to quickly open soft walls, she excels as a rusher who can overpower weaker defender weapons.

Thatcher

The perfect wingman for a good attack, Thatcher sets ‘em up so Hibana and Thermite can knock ‘em down. His EMP grenades can be thrown on the outside of a wall to destroy or disable electronic devices in its large radius. Most often, this is used to counter the electric reinforcement of Bandit and Kaid so that a hard breacher can penetrate the defense. Operators like Twitch can accomplish this task in riskier ways, but Thatcher’s EMPs make the job trivial. Against a savvy team, your hard breachers will be useless without Thatcher's support.

Twitch

Twitch’s appeal is pretty simple: she’s got the best weapon in the game. The F2 assault rifle marries high damage, controllable recoil (even after a recent nerf), and a terrifyingly fast rate of fire – plus it’s got an ACOG scope. The shock drone is a uniquely powerful way to gather intel while also hindering the enemy, and at the moment it’s the only gadget that can open Mira’s windows. But even when off the drone, Twitch sports a solid two-armor kit and the F2, one of the best weapons in the game.

Zofia

Zofia is a powerful support and fragger combo. Her double-barreled grenade launcher has both impact grenades and concussion rounds that daze opponent when launched nearby.

Iana

Iana’s Gemini The replicator is sort of like a rechargeable, humanoid drone. That alone makes it handy in almost any situation, but it’s not exactly meta-shifting. The hologram’s true value is its ability to fool defenders into believing Iana is halfway across the map when she’s actually sneaking up behind them. Unfortunately, gadget deployment is noisy and most security guards know when to expect real and fake Iana. It is interesting to see if Ubisoft tinkers with this aspect of Iana's gadget.

Kali

Siege's second the sniper uses the new CSRX 300 confidently, a powerful bolt-action rifle with a scope of 5X or 12X magnification. Only one foot is needed to bring down the enemy, and a bullet can strike through seven walls. Her LV explosive Lance Grenade is similar to Thatcher's anti-breach technique. Her Lance is less reliable when confronted with a Bandit Trick and a well-hidden Electroclo, but they are also great for destroying defensive utilities such as shields, barbed wire, and Mastro's evil eyes.

Nøkk

Post-damage buff, the FMG9 is a pinpoint accurate laser beam with respectable damage. Her new frag grenades (the standard apology-upgrade Ubisoft seems to hand to any flagging attacker) give her new potential to capitalize on stealth with surprise attacks.

Gridlock

Her utility is stacked with smoke grenades and a secondary shotgun. She boasts high survivability at the cost of speed. In the hands of a cautious player, she’s a safety blanket that stays alive long enough to set her traps and assist with the defuser plant.

Blackbeard

His two mounted rifle shields essentially give him two extra lives at the cost of speed and ADS time, and in the right hands, he is absolutely terrifying. If he’s holding a long angle or attacking a window from outside, he always has the advantage.

Jackal

He remains good at hunting roamers, evidenced by his high ban rate in Ranked. Nobody’s location is safe from him unless you’re the light-stepped Caveria. On the rare chance that you are allowed to play him, he also carries one of the game’s greatest assault rifles, the C7E, smoke grenades, and a secondary shotgun.

Ying

Her three candelas each expunge five flash grenades that can be rolled under a doorway, thrown into a room, or penetrate the other side of a soft surface. It’s a disorienting primer when pushing a site, with proper coordination. She’s balanced by the low fire rate of her primary LMG, the T-95 LSW.

Glaz

The fire rate of his OTs-03 rifle has risen back up to its punchy consistency. The nerf to his smoke vision scope was partly reverted to make him an effective site pusher with an emphasis on caution.

Montagne

His extending shield creates a barrier that few things can interrupt, so Monty is best used as a scout for spotting enemy locations while safely standing behind the shield. He doesn’t have many options when backed into a corner, but his powerful pistol can still contribute to a fight.

Nomad

Nomad’s true power is that she does not have a real counter on the defender side. If the defenders allow her to cover a site in Airjabs, the round is essentially over.

Lion

His full map scan has been tweaked to only ping enemies when movement is detected, similar to triggering Alibi's decoys. Defenders are still inclined to a standstill during the scan, but now it's over in a couple of seconds.

IQ

With a communicative team, she can use her electronics scanner to warn friendlies of traps, expose certain roamers and shoot Bandit batteries/Electroclaws through floors and ceilings.

Finka

Even when randomly activated at the whim of Finka, her boost makes the team instantly tankier, which directly leads to more fights won.

Dokkaebi

She can take either the Mk 14 DMR or BOSG slug shotgun. The Mk 14 is a middling DMR and the BOSG is more of a weird novelty. She has lost her frag grenades in Void Edge, but she still has plenty of support utility thanks to a boost to destruction with DMRs. Her MK 14 can now break soft hatches, similar to Glaz's rifle.

Capitão

With practice and coordination, he’s great for assisting a defuser plant. Where he falters is with his mediocre weapon choices. The M249 is a good LMG but the PARA assault rifle’s extremely low rate of fire gives it a choppy feel that isn't conducive to flick shots.

Amaru

The process of grappling through a window or hatch is loud and Amaru is helpless for a few moments after using it. If anyone is around to see her crash through a window, she’s toast. There is the occasional opportunity to use the hook cleverly, but it’s usually not worth the risk.

Blitz

his playstyle feels appropriately aggressive. If all were well with the technical side of things, he’d be easy to recommend. But there are too many issues with shield collision and melee that come up often playing Blitz. Whether he’s getting meleed through his shield or the flash effect isn’t working consistently, there’s too much working against his success at any given time.

Fuze

The premise of Fuze's cluster charges makes them seem powerful and exciting. In reality, experienced players have little issue avoiding these bouncing bombs, so instead, they’re best used as a way to destroy gadgets. But Fuze’s problem isn’t with his launcher, it’s with him. Even with his powerful assault rifle, he’s one of the only non-shield attackers with a one-speed rating. His slow running speed is definitely a factor to his low pick rate, but I’d argue the biggest hindrance is the extra noise that he makes. It’s important when attacking to make subtle movements to draw less attention to yourself, but the loud thud of Fuze’s boots can be heard a mile away.

DEFENDERS

Bandit or Kaid

The pair both utilize electricity to shock away Thermite and Hibana’s explosives, but they go about it very differently. Bandit’s shock wire batteries are less versatile, but they’re quick enough to pull off the “Bandit Trick” and zap away a thermite charge before it can go off.

Mute

His impact can be immense. His signal jammers are extremely flexible since they can be placed anywhere with enough room and cover an impressive distance. Placed next to walls, a jammer can fill the role of Bandit with slightly less effectiveness. On doors and windows, they’re great for jamming drones trying to sneak into the objective. If the enemy team is favoring Lion or Dokkaebi, placing jammers at common anchoring points will nip their gadgets in the bud.

Wamai       

The South African defender throws frisbee-shaped MAG-NET traps that capture projectiles mid-flight carries them to the device, and detonates whatever it caught. It doesn’t neutralize what it captures but instead lets Wamai turn it against the attackers. He’s a wonderful remix of Jäger that encourages clever placement.

Mozzie

His launchable Pest robots can be set as proximity traps to capture attacker drones or fired directly at them to nab them quickly. If you’re proactive, you can capture up to three and add a fleet of new cameras to your defense. He can also capture Twitch drones to turn their zappers on his foes.

Pulse

As long as every new op has a beating heart, Pulse will be able to see it with his scanner. He’s best utilized alongside a nitro cell, waiting for an attacker above and blowing it at their feet from below. He has no automatic way to call out the heartbeats he sees, so he can fall a little flat if the teammate isn’t on the mic.

Mira

When she released, her Black Mirror gadget opened up defenders to new strategies that powerfully lock down an objective. Merely placing her one-way bulletproof the rectangle on a soft wall is a powerful deterrent because Mira is likely on another side, watching for an opportunity to step over and strike.

Rook

His armor plates buff everyone’s health a bit and ensure that you’ll enter DBNO if you’re not shot in the head. For the already beefy three-armor anchors like Rook, the buff is appreciated but overall minimal. For one-armor roamers like Alibi or Caveira, extra health can save their lives. Rook also sports the accurate MP5 (ACOG-compatible) and impact grenades that let him reliably set up a defense with rotation holes.

Jäger

His gadget, the ADS, can be placed on walls and floors to zap away many different kinds of grenades and gadgets as they fly into a room. In the same way that Thatcher is a good companion for hard breachers, Jäger helps take away the advantage attackers try to achieve in altering an objective room. Nothing takes the wind out of an Ash’s sails like throwing in a few flash grenades before a rush just to have them zapped away. But just as important to his role is his 416-C Carbine, a powerful assault rifle that can challenge attackers at short to long distances.

Valkyrie

Her three Black Eye cameras can be placed anywhere and provide a clear color picture and near-360 degree views of the map. Players are accustomed to hunting down her cams, but the best Valkyries mix up their hiding places and even toss them outside after the round starts. Giving the entire team three new vantage points is an incredibly valuable ability.

Oryx

His Remah Dash doesn’t always make a difference when it comes to winning, but it’s great for making sudden rotation holes during tense moments. More useful is his ability to climb hatches, something that only he and Amaru can do. Maps with three floors become Oryx’s jungle gym.

Goyo

His special deployable shields hide a red charge that explodes into a spread of fire when shot (or blown up by a grenade). Similar to Mira's Black Mirrors, anyone can use the shield if they're positioned correctly. But unlike a Black Mirror, a Volcan shield can roast you to death in seconds.

Warden

His Glance Smart Glasses can see through the effects of flash grenades and smoke, abilities previously only held by Glaz and Ying. He’s a great answer to a team favoring flash/smoke entry, but his MPX SMG primary requires headshots to win most fights.

Maestro

His two Evil Eyes are bulletproof cameras that can also shoot laser beams that can destroy gadgets and sting enemies. The durable cameras are a great help even without the lasers, but only Maestro can operate them.

Kapkan

His trip mines mounted on doors and windows are easier than ever to step into. The punishment for doing so is a harsh 60 health drop, which either kills you if you’re already damaged or puts you in a vulnerable spot for the rest of the round. His VSN SMG has some of the best balance between recoil and damage, plus his option of impact grenades or nitro cell adds some flexibility to how you want to play him.

Alibi

When the decoy is shot or walked through by an attacker (or their drone), their location is pinged for the next few seconds. It’s sometimes hard to tell if the decoys make a difference, but I still fall for them occasionally.

Caveira

Her Silent Step ability dampens the sounds of her movements drastically, and her Luison pistol is deviously powerful. The worst part of getting bested by her is what happens after. If she’s able to pull off an interrogation, spotting every enemy on the map for a few seconds, it can easily win around right then and there. Thorough droning and teamwork is the only way to reliably take her down.

Doc

His stim pistol can deliver three doses of 40 health from a distance, or self-apply. He can overheal for a total of 140 health, but the boost will deplete over time. He carries the same MP5 and P90 options as Rook, so he’s also a great anchor to take along. Since Doc usually stays near the objective, he’s best utilized after a fight or when roaming teammates come back to get healed.

Echo

His Yokai drones can jump up and stick to the ceiling to enter a cloaked mode. From there, it can fire sonic bursts that disorient opponents and interrupt gadget use.

Ela

Her Grzmot mines are traps that concuss and hinder attacker aim, but if you’re not nearby to capitalize on their detonation, they’re just fancy alarms. Her Scorpion SMG was the subject of a recent buff and subsequent nerf, but the end result is an easier recoil spread for its first few shots.

Smoke

His remote-activated poison smoke canisters are the best way to stop a defuser plant without exposing yourself. Though, they require good aim and precise timing.

Lesion

The mines are hard to notice when cloaked and force attackers to take a moment to remove the needle. Lesion becomes more useful the longer he lives since he earns more mines overtime for a total of seven. In Void Edge, Lesion’s Gu Mines were nerfed to not deal with initial damage.

Vigil

Vigil can’t step silently, but he can activate a backpack jammer that makes him disappear on cameras. Drones can still detect when he’s nearby, so enemies can still surmise where he’s hiding, but it gives Vigil a solid chance at fending them off. His K1A SMG hits hard and is controllable at longer ranges, so it feels kind of like Jäger’s 416-C. Like Cav, Vigil can now use his ability on a shorter cooldown; a bonus especially handy when multiple drones are trying to pin down his location.

Frost

Her Welcome Mats are the most obvious trap in the game and can easily be disabled, especially after 2019 nerf that lowered their health to 60. This is by design: it’s high risk versus high reward, but because of this her utility often goes to waste.

Clash

Her full-body shield can shoot taser bursts at enemies that slow them down temporarily. Unlike Monty, Clash’s shield can be meleed to knock it away and open her up for attack. She can’t shoot unless she puts away her shield, a process that takes longer than ever after a series of nerfs. After balancing, Clash is a useful support operator in the right circumstances, but a terrible anchor the rest of the time.

Castle

He can be good with a coordinated team but is simply a nuisance otherwise. That doesn’t mean you can’t play him right: the barricades can be an effective blockade as time winds down in around.

Tachanka

His stationary turret is poison to surviving around, the turret shield has hitbox issues, and the damage output of the thing isn’t even that impressive. Off the turret, Tachanka is just a slower Kapkan.